For
several years now I've enjoyed following bluetick hounds in pursuit of
the wily raccoon. For me, there's something very exhilarating about the
full-throated bawl of a flop‑eared hound beneath a big Texas moon.
There's an old saying among hound men that's always intrigued me.
Veteran handlers are fond of saying, "You'll have whatever kind of
dog you'll put up with."
In dog talk that means
if you'll put up with a hound that runs deer, guess what you'll have
before long? That's right—a deer running hound. If you'll tolerate a dog
that fights at the tree, that's what you'll eventually own—a growly,
tree‑fighting dog. Whatever you'll tolerate is what you'll eventually
have. I've seen too many examples which prove this saying to doubt its
truthfulness.
The same principle
applies to the religious realm as well. Stated simply, whatever sin
we tolerate becomes a part of us. Sin has a powerful, corrupting
influence. Give it time and opportunity, and sin will invade every part
of a Christian's life. The ultimate consequence of sin is spiritual
death (Ezek.
18:20, I Cor. 15:56).
Sin separates us from God; sin brings us under bondage to Satan. The
Christian must war against sin at every turn!
Clearly, those
first‑century preachers did everything within their power to root out
sin. For example, when the Judaizing teachers crept in among the
Galatian brethren and attempted to bind circumcision as a religious
requirement, Paul wrote, ". . . we did not yield in subjection to them
for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you"
(Gal. 2:5,
NASB).
Paul realized the danger of false teachers and the sin they bring with
them! Furthermore, he admonished the Corinthian brethren to be on guard
against sin: "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be
strong" (I Cor.
16: 13).
From a congregational
standpoint, this means that we must ever be vigilant against the
pervasive nature of sin. Remember, whatever sin we tolerate becomes a
part of us. Paul warns the brethren about this very danger in I Cor.
5. As he addresses the problem of the man who had his father's wife, he
writes in v. 6: "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a
little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?" Don't you
realize, Paul is saying, that once the yeast of sin infiltrates
the congregation that it will spread throughout? Don't you realize that
sin which is tolerated has a corrupting influence on all the members?
Those who have been
members of the Lord's body for any length of time have seen the truth of
Paul's inspired warning. Once a congregation begins to care more for
tolerance than it does for truth, it has taken the first step down the
slippery slope of apostasy.
Usually sin creeps
into a congregation gradually, almost imperceptibly. Perhaps it starts
with a preacher who decides to ignore Paul's example in Acts
20:27
of preaching "all the counsel of God" and decides to steer clear of the
"touchy subjects." Or maybe it begins by looking the other way when a
couple we're fond of continues to live in a clearly unscriptural
marriage. Or perhaps it starts when a false teacher first spreads his
doctrine among members, and we fail to correct him because we don't want
to "create a confrontation." Or maybe there's a brother or sister who's
clearly walking disorderly and we fail to heed God's commandment in
II Thess. 3:6 to withdraw ourselves from that person.
I'm not talking about
going on a witch‑hunt or playing house detective among the brethren.
There's no excuse for plain old nosiness. I'm simply encouraging all of
us to recognize a fundamental Bible principle: Christians by their
lives and by their actions cannot condone or encourage sin. In
fact, we are to do the exact opposite. Eph.
5:11
tells us to . . . have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them" (KJV).
Sin, by its very
nature, tends to grow and spread. The best way I know to illustrate the
point is to think of Bermuda grass. I like to garden, but I don't like
Bermuda grass. Unfortunately, I'm not as diligent as I should be about
rooting it out. Ill see a little sprout of it in one corner of the
garden, and Ill think, "I can always grub that out tomorrow; after all,
it's just one little sprout." Of course, tomorrow never comes, and I
fail to reckon with the tough, invasive roots beneath the soil's
surface. And, because Bermuda is a perennial, creeping grass, it returns
stronger year after year.
So it is with sin.
Develop an attitude of tolerance, and it will never leave. In fact, it
will grow stronger over time. The devil guarantees it. Like leaven in
that lump of dough, it spreads throughout. If it had been dealt with
decisively, when it first invaded the local church, it could have been
eliminated. Allow it to grow, as I've done my Bermuda grass, and the
task becomes nearly impossible.
The same is also true
for the individual. We are deluding ourselves if we think one "pet sin"
is all right. "Every man has his vice" is the motto of the worldly
individual. Instead, the Christian remembers I Thess. 5:22:
"Abstain from every form of evil" (NASB). No man can sin with impunity.
Sin always bears consequences. Yes, we can be forgiven of sin when we
repent and turn to God. But sin exacts a price. It scars the soul. It
may ruin our chance to influence others. It may harden our hearts to the
next sin. It causes us to set a bad example for others. It hurts friends
and family. It weakens the congregation because it turns our minds away
from God. It grieves our Father in heaven.
Dan Shipley puts it
this way: ". . . The individual who thinks he can hold on to that one
'little' sin and be spiritually healthy, is deceiving himself. It will
permeate the soul, separate from God, kill spiritual appetite and
interest and encourage other sins. One sin retained is ten sins
gained."
Instead, let us get as
close to Jesus and as far away from sin as we possibly can. Rom.
13:14
speaks volumes: "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof."
Like the wise old
hound man who knows to cull the errant dog from his hunting pack, let us
drive sin from our lives.
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